V7 Announcements

Credit to staff for writing the announcements: Deamon, Emprexx Plush, MK Kilmarnock, Backslash.

The First Announcement
Saturday, October 15th, 2016: Johannesburg, South Africa, 4:30 PM

The domino effect that led Adimabua Lawal from poverty to comfort started with his obsession with detail. It had convinced instructors, in the most generous sense of the word, from his village all the way to Kaduna State that he was worth their attention. When he became a desk clerk at the Bafra his attentiveness carried him from part time work to meet education expenses to a position in management. A Master’s in Accounting and a fifteen year reputation took him to Abuja, Accra, Cairo, Luanda, Kampala, Dar Es Salaam, Johannesburg; any city on the continent would receive him with the right recommendation. Many cities in the world at large as well, if he desired to see them as more than numbers. Looking at all they had given him, it was hard to deny his curious instincts were a gift.

Adi would deny it, of course, but he would not blame an outsider for their confusion. Dredging through information that seemed benign beyond the uneasy twinge in his gut was often a thankless task. You could consider it like turning over loose stones in the wilderness. Most often you would find nothing at all, and once in countless numbers of flips you might find something of notable value. A man who dedicated his life to the task might make a passing career with enough luck, but only if he avoided the outcome that fell between common failure and rare success. There was always a chance when you exposed the dirt to daylight you would disturb something irritable, some coiled creature now wary of your intrusion. Any reasonable person would be wise to retreat carefully enough to make it seem you were never there before forgetting they saw anything. Only a fool would press on after its greeting, and they were owed no distress when bitten.

The black 2009 Acura TL waiting beside his normal parking spot would not have raised suspicion if Adi had not been very, very foolish. Scanning his apartment’s underground parking structure had become a habit over the last few months. It would have been more productive to stop prodding at the inconsistent transactions he’d discovered, but he could no more do that than stop staring at every unknown vehicle he noticed before he parked. So every day he came home expecting to be discovered, and every day his paranoia was unsatisfied.Today was no different until an impeccably dressed woman exited the Acura’s rear passenger door and tilted her glasses down at him. She could pass for a foreign consultant, though one you would not notice unless she demanded your attention. When her dark brown eyes fixed on his, though, Adi understood her purpose. He had been noticed.

No.

He had been bitten.

They took M1 out of Killarney. He was more familiar with the motorway’s southern path to Soweto; if he had not been interrupted he had planned to visit Lwazi, treat him to dinner if his pride would allow it. Instead they headed north to the highway. They could end up roundabout to the CBD, perhaps, Joubert or Hillbrow. Alexandra. Honeydew.

“Mr. Lawal?”

Sonia, as she’d introduced herself, sat across from him in the back seat. She had questioned him again a few moments ago. He’d already lost it. The silent driver she had declined to introduced gave him a look of contempt through the rearview. “I apologize. Could you repeat that?”

“How long have you been following these transactions?”

Fingers bridged in his lap with a long exhale. “The first...it is hard to say. No more than a year ago, maybe less. I did not pay much attention to it.”

The driver’s eyes returned to the road. There was silence other than the sound of traffic and Sonia’s scribbling. “Why?” She did not look up at him.

His bright, broad smile reflected in the mirror. “It was not my account.”

“How many accounts have you connected now?”

Adi tapped his fingers together. “Twenty-three.”

She looked up from her notes. “Are you responsible for any of them?”

“No.”

Sonia raised an eyebrow. He did not wait for her to verbalize the question before he chuckled. “I know, I know. It is hypocritical, but I am getting old. Little excites me but mystery. My boyfriend, he never stops scolding me, I cannot help prying where I do not belong. It causes him much stress trying to keep up.”

“Does he know about this?”

He made sure to have her attention before he spoke. “No. We do not discuss business, only gossip. He is harmless.”

Her expression did not change. “Of course. What about your coworkers? Your supervisors?” Eyes settled on him in the mirror. Adi swallowed and shook his head.

“No. I did not know what I would tell them I found at first, and once I did…”

“What have you found?”

His hands came up slowly. “I do not know. I know what surrounds it; forged dates, suspect accounts, names and companies that seem to come from nowhere, but the heart of it? I could not tell you. I do not believe I would want to tell anyone if I could.”

When Sonia’s pen stopped and her eyes lingered on his face, he knew he had misspoken. “Say you have to come up with something. What would you tell me?”

No matter what else was to come, Adi could not say they had been unkind to him. He had entered the car on invitation, been allowed to retrieve his satchel though it sat out of reach in the empty front seat, even been given a cold bottle of water for his troubles. He had not opened it until now, but Sonia’s unflinching stare had left his mouth dry. She was still looking after he wiped the condensation from his lips. “Have you heard of the Miss World riots?”

For the first time since they’d met under his apartment, Sonia gave him a hint of a smile. “I haven’t.”

Adi shook his head. “I do not blame you. They did not hold international interest long. I lived in Kaduna before they broke out. We never wanted the contest to come here, you know, even those with no religious objections. It was a messy thing, too controversial. It is fascinating if you wish to learn another time. For now...it is simplest to say a journalist in Lagos took the opportunity to make unkind remarks at The Prophet’s expense.” He paused to take another sip. “It went as one would expect.”

His gaze went from Sonia to the window past her. At the speed they were going the countryside all blurred together. If he let his eyes unfocus he could be anywhere, even Kaduna on the morning of November 20th, 2002. “I managed for a hotel at the time, the Bafra. I heard discontent on all sides every day, so I should have known it was coming. It was so fast and so slow at once. Nothing came the day the article was published, or the day after. Monday morning she was fired, Tuesday they issued a front page apology. It was finished. We would return to unrest rather than outrage, that was the hope.”

His left hand stilled the nervous bouncing in his left knee. “I am not a religious man, but I appreciate the buildings. There was a church a few blocks from my apartment I liked to visit, and Wednesday morning was free." It was clear now. His tense slipped' drifting from recollection to visualization. "As I approach it a van tears down the street beside me, nearly clips me with a mirror. It screeches to a halt in front of the church but before it stops I see men pour out of it, more than I imagine can fit. Crude weapons in some hands, gasoline in others. I should not be here, I tell myself, I must go but I do not. I stare as bodies are dragged screaming from the church. Beaten, tossed down its steps. There are flames lapping at its walls. That is when he sees me.”

The eyes in the mirror bored into him with increasing impatience, but Sonia’s hint of a smirk had not faded. “I know him,” Adi continued, “I know his face though I have never seen it so twisted in anger. It has been some years since we attended class together now, but we still recognize each other, and that is dangerous for a man in his position. He cannot know the rioters will be too numerous to name or to punish. He approaches me with carnage in the background and asks, very simply, what I have seen.”

His time was running thin. There was only so long before it looked like he was stalling. “You do this for a living, so I am sure you know the first instinct in all of us when we are caught doing something we should not have done. To deny. I tell this man I have seen nothing, and now I have not wronged him....unless he does not believe me. I am not a good liar, but this man does not want to hear the truth. Not this truth which makes his work harder.” Adi shrugged. “So I offer him another. I tell him on my walk I saw a building. A warehouse, I think, though for what I only guess. It has been undisturbed for all the years I have lived near it. A disservice to the community. If someone were to put it to use it would be for the greater good, even if their works go unseen. Perhaps, I wonder aloud, he would like me to show it to him, and you know? He smiles. He claps me on the shoulder as a brother, and he returns to his business with new peace of mind.”

Adi’s gaze returned to Sonia with fresh intensity. “What I am trying to say, miss, is with all of this laid out in the open I would not tell you anything.” He watched her face closely. “Instead, I would like to ask you if you want to see a warehouse.”

Her expression melted back to professional neutrality. Sonia leaned back into her seat and returned to her notes without response. “I don’t have any interest in warehouses, Mr. Lawal.”

Adi’s heart sank into his stomach.

“But I know someone who does.” She kicked the front seat. “Eyes on the road. Pretoria.” Sonia turned back to Adi. “Hell of a pitch. Hope you can pull it off twice.”

If he looked closely enough, he swore he could see amusement in her eyes.

Monday, June 11, 2018: Undisclosed Location, 9 AM

Tracen stood looking at the set-up in front of him thoughtfully. He was considering how things were and whether a change had been necessary. In the end, he decided that yes, he did deserve the new chair.

He stepped forward, cup of coffee in hand and took his seat. It felt different, but not in a bad way. He took a sip as he spread his notes out then placed the cup down on the desk. It had been an interesting day, to say the least. He was pleased with that. It was exactly what they wanted.

After a quick skim through his notes, and a small line alteration he was ready.

He pressed the button and the speakers hidden around the island burst to life for the first time. There would be many more times yet to come.

"Good morning everyone and welcome once again to Survival of the Fittest." He took another quick sip of coffee.

"I'm glad you all took our briefing to heart. We worked hard on it, so it's good to you see you all taking that inspiration."

"First up this morning, we have what could be a new speed record when Abel Zelenovic was beaten to death by Paloma Salt. Don't worry about it too much, most of you were still asleep."

"The next person to meet their end was Toby Underwood who got his head blown open by Tirzah Foss. There's an important lesson for you all there and it's trust no one."

Tracen paused to take another drink and idly spun the pen in his fingers.

"We continue with the first day craziness as Christine Bright was extinguished by Tyrell Lahti when he bit through her throat. Watch out for him kids. I think he might be rabid."

"In the first of what I'm sure will be many star-crossed lovers moments, Beryl Mahelona was reunited with Nick Ogilvie as he put a knife in her neck. It's sad, but this is what happens in this game."

A small grin played at Tracen's lips as he read the next pair of names.

"Felix Rees was the next one of your classmates to meet his end as busy boy Tyrell Lahti shot him in the chest and then double-tapped. I don't know if Felix was a zombie but either way he's not coming back from that."

"Meanwhile as that was happening we had an example of having a twitchy sword arm as Katrina Lavell tested her blade on Yuko Hayashibara."

"Next up there was some Quinn on Quinn violence as Quinn Abert stabbed Violet Quinn in the gut. A classic method of murder but people appreciate the hits."

"As if it wasn't already obvious to all of you, Dante Luciano Valerio found out the hard way that taking a nap on the island is a bad idea as Blaise d'Aramitz blew his head wide open. Presumably, there was nothing inside."

"Finally we finish with a bit of a health and safety PSA. Head injuries are very serious and can have unseen complications. If they aren't properly treated the results could be fatal. This lesson is brought to you by Benedict Murray who collapsed hours after Justin Greene cracked his skull with a tire iron."

Tracen tapped the pen against the desk and hummed gently over the microphone.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something...Oh right! As I mentioned when we first met there are danger zones you need to be aware of. Today's is The Waterfall! For those of you that can't remember, that means anyone in there will have their collars explode on them. You have ten minutes from the end of this announcement to leave, so don't waste time."

"And finally we were big fans of Blaise d'Aramitz and are pleased to announce them as the very first winner of the V7 Best Kill Award. Head to the Waterfall to collect your prize, consisting of a meal of pulled-pork sliders with coleslaw and a Coke, and of course a shiny new weapon."

The Second Announcement
Monday June 11, 2018: Undisclosed Location, 11 PM

The clock on the wall ticked in time to the beat of Jimmy Buffet’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise” playing through the small bluetooth speaker set on a battered filing cabinet. Just for a little bit, a small group of friends… acquaintances… …. Co-workers could enjoy some time to themselves in preparation for the days to follow. The hardest part was behind them all, but the most treacherous days could still be ahead of them if they slipped up. For those who were there ten years ago, they remembered the consequences, and they passed on the tales to those who weren’t.

A small circular table sat in an enclosed space that didn’t give much wiggle room for three of its sides. Maybe two-to-three steps to reach the two doors on either wall for the fourth. It was cramped, but it was all they had, the only space Greynolds could afford them when setting up their little game. A cooler sat underneath, giving birth to growing piles of discarded cans and bottles over time, with chips, crackers and snack cakes placed here and there.

“Alright, let’s get set up for game two,” said Dennis Lourvey. To his left, Josie Knight. To her left, Veronica Rai then, continuing around the table, Adimabua Lawal and finally Boris Petrikov, seated to Lourvey’s right. “Still Hold’em- Adi, hand me those chips? Count ‘em up, we should all have 20K. And Boris,” Lourvey pushed up his glasses and threw a glance to the sullen-looking man sitting beside him, “I swear to fuck, if you go all-in on the first round AGAIN we’re not inviting you back for our game nights, got it?”

Adimabua placed the chips in Lourvey’s hand as directed with a smile to Boris. Whether he took it anywhere from mocking to sympathetic was his decision; he was not certain how he meant it himself. Little was certain in the tense energy of a game in full swing. There was confidence, yes, the reassurance of a routine practiced for more than a decade by some of his compatriots. There was an air of unease around it though. For those who had served under Mr. Danya’s predecessor he assumed the fear of discovery played some role. Others, like Boris, had more personal discomforts. Only a portion could be attributed to the nature of their work. When Boris scanned across the collected $100,000 around the table with a flicker of hunger in his eyes Adi suspected it came from more than greed, but who could say? Still others were unreadable to him. If there was more beyond the surface to Rai, for instance, he was uncertain he wanted to find it.

Before he came aboard that was a rare feeling. The gossip of hidden motivation had been his favorite way to pass the time at work events before now. Even he was wrong, and in fairness he was often wrong, it was more engaging than most activities thrown together by committee. Where was the harm? In his old life he was harmless. The worst he could expect were harsh words. Adi did not play such games with the Taskforce. He was too fresh with tensions too high to expect unwelcome questions leading anywhere but an equally unwelcome departure. The words had not been used explicitly, but he considered himself in a probationary period where the threat of termination had taken a more literal meaning.

That did not require him to be unfriendly. The cards Lourvey dealt him tipped upwards at the edge of the table and he shook his head with a chuckle. “Fortune does not favor our corner,” he mused to Boris at his side. “I am reminded of a card game we played in university, Thuni. We played for money, or drinks, or,” a gesture with two fingers in front of his lips cut off the thought, finishing with a shrug. “As students do. There was also some undesirable task assigned to being the greatest loser. Does this game have similar penalties?”

Something like a smile crossed Rai’s face at the suggestion. Though Adi hadn’t been speaking directly to her, she responded from his other side. “Why not make some? Make things more interesting.” She nudged Josie under the table. “Worst loser can do Josie’s laundry.”

She wasn’t that good at poker - strategy had never been her forte, nor had discretion - but she was hanging in there. Doing better than Boris, at least. Guy went all in way too soon. Rai had just come to assume that Boris was at least tipsy at all times, and that assumption held now.

“What the fuck?” Josie said with a grin and laugh as she raised her beer to her lips. “If we’re talking when I get back from the island sure. That place is a sweaty hellhole.” Poker was a game she had acquired a lot of experience with over the course of her life hanging around in bars, and in a more important way she’d learned how to effectively cheat. Although the difficulty of cheating was raised when there was so many people at the table.

“And yeah Boris, we prefer taking our time and making Lourvery sweat it out over as long a time as possible.” The can she had been drinking from was discarded and another one retrieved. It had been fun, with the additional benefit of she was getting paid for it. Josie let the cards slide across the table to her and didn’t look at them before betting. “So what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” She asked the gathering, grin still spread across her face.

“If I have to do your laundry that would quickly top the list, lemme tell ya,” Lourvey shot. He flinched when something furry and orange hopped up into his lap. “Damn it, George, can it wait!?” he asked the ornery old cat, who had decided Dennis’s lap was now the ideal napping spot.

“Better you than me,” Rai muttered. “I’m allergic.” Not completely untrue, but the reality was that she just wasn’t much of an animal person, either in the way that people usually meant it or in the Josie way that meant she liked to hang them on her wall. The time she spent petting the forlorn seeing-eye dog until he stopped being so damn pitiful at being taken away from his person didn’t count.

Boris interrupted the proceedings by shoveling his chips to the center of the table.

“All in,” he slurred, getting a collective groan in response. Lourvey slammed his can of Red Bull on the table, while the old tabby in his lap was too grizzled and stubborn to care.

“God dammit Boris, go to bed. You’re drunk,” Rai grumbled.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018: Undisclosed Location, 9 AM

Another day down and more deaths had appeared on his list. Including some that had been missed from the first day. Tracen wasn't sure how things like that kept happening even after all the years they had been running things but he had just accepted it as part of the setup. Ironically, he was always drawn to how unprofessional it made them seem, as if anyone who would be watching the feeds or the students themselves cared about something like that. It was a strange and ridiculous ouroboros of how they viewed themselves. One of the first things he had learned from Greynolds and the old tapes of his father was that presentation was everything and missing deaths ruined their presentation. It was a small detail that maybe only he cared about, but letting small details go unaddressed was what had led to his fathers' death in the first place.

So when Tracen had been passed the list he had glared at it for a long while. Then eventually he had managed an 'alright'. As he sat there watching the clock tick ever closer to nine his annoyance ebbed and flowed. It would be fine. He could deal with it after. His pen tapped against the desk as the time ticked over. Then he pressed the button.

"Goooood morning students! We are back once again to give you a rundown of how the game and is going and I have to say you certainly have packed a lot of drama into twenty-four hours so thank you for that."

"First up, we begin with a set of interesting events that transpired in the early hours of the morning. During the course of an argument, Mikki Swift ended up shooting Phillip Olivares and Terra Johnson but in the process Terra managed to shoot her as well. Then just when you thought it was all over Zachary Beck managed to stab an injured Bree Jones, and she nearly made it as well. These things happen I suppose."

Tracen clapped his hands together.

"Right. Try not to cut things so close to the announcement in the future, kids. It messes with our bookkeeping, and we know that none of you want to be forgotten.

"We begin the day proper with a more lowkey death as Sapphire Waters bled to death following an altercation with Lorenzo Tavares. It was so lowkey that it wasn't even noticed that she'd died because of our previous announcement. Imagine having your death upstaged by a disembodied voice."

"Next up white knight to be Danny Chamnanma fell, literally and figuratively to Quinn Abert who notches up her second kill after stabbing Danny and then using him as a crash mat. Points for style."

Tracen read the next name on his list and the description of their death and gave an exaggerated sigh.

"So, it appears that a group of you don't understand health and safety and managed to emulate a set of dominoes, leading to Cammy Walker-Grimsleyto fall off the Nature's Lookout platform. Since this was a Rube Goldberg machine of stupidity no one gets credit. Oh also, if you thought you heard someone calling for help in the wilds, don't worry, you did."

"Compared to that our next kill is elegantly simple. Kyle Harrison was shot by an angel...did I say angel, sorry, I meant Violet Schmidt. I hear those two get confused a lot."

"Ron Kiser didn't watch his back and ended up with a bullet in it courtesy of Tirzah Foss. Hats off to Miss Foss, she's a real go-getter."

"Another death by gunshot as Desiree Beck had her mind, and head blown courtesy of Erika Stieglitz who went long with the shot. It was quite impressive."

Tracen tapped the pen on his desk again as his eyes scanned the rest of the list.

"It appears that the horror movie prop we put on the island with you got put to its proper use as Nona Hart or Marco Hart now whatever you prefer, it's not like we care. The important part is they put the insides of Kayla Harris on the outside."

"As we continued on with the day we had a battle between two heavyweights as Jeremiah Anderson was bested by Nick Ogilvie, who continued showing his hated of throats. Protect your necks around that guy.

"Kelly Nguyen got a mercy kill... oh no wait, she killed Mercy Ames. Best make sure you check your food and drink if someone else has handled it before you; you never know what might end up in there.

"Then there was a tale as old as time. Friend finds friend, friend approaches friend, friend gets shot. This happened to Regina Petrov and Caroline Ford when Caroline shot Regina and then decided to vandalize one of our cameras, so we followed through with our warning and blew her head off. Do not mess with our cameras."

Tracen let some menace seep in as he finished off the list before perking back up again.

"Anyway! As our time together this morning comes to an end I must remind you that in good news you are free to go to The Waterfall but in bad news The Menagerie is now off-limits. If you stick around or wander into there, you're going to find out just how effective our collars are."

"And the final thing on our itinerary is to offer congratulations to Violet Schmidt. We thought you did the best job of eliminating the competition today and as such you are the winner of today's BKA!"

Tracen gave a small burst of applause.

"Your prize of blackened chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and seasoned green beans, and a new weapon, can be found in The Menagerie, specifically The Aviary. We hope you like it."

The Third Announcement
Tuesday June 12, 2018: Undisclosed Location, 12:30 PM

1x KitchenAid Artisan Series 5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer, Aqua Sky

1x Sifter/Scale Attachment

1x Fresh Prep Slicer/Shredder Attachment

1x Five Piece Pasta Roller

1x Metal Meat Grinder Attachment

1x Spiralizer Peel, Core, And Slice Attachment

1x 7 Blade Spiralizer Plus Peel, Core, and Slice Attachment

Adi’s finger stopped at that line. The dull throb of his hangover forced him to re-read several times, just to be certain he was not missing something. Satisfied with the accuracy of his dissatisfaction,his eyes raised from the page to peek over the half-ovals of his glasses. “This pair, this I am not understanding. Are these not the same item?”

The man across the table gave away nothing. Tan, wrinkled skin denoting he was even Adi’s elder, eyes like dulled emeralds squinting with what could be read as the mildest incredulity, broad mouth hanging agape enough to show crooked teeth going yellow in contrast to his stark, shining white comb-over. His first response was to tilt his head to the left and blink, as if waiting for realization to sink in. When it did not he leaned forward, the creak of his chair making Adi wince. “Nope,” his finger tapping the page, “One’s seven blades. Says so right there, sir.”

It was Adi’s turn to stare and wait. He did not know much of Franklin Libby beyond his place of respect in the kitchen, but that alone made the situation...delicate. The man held no official authority of him, the other way around as it were given the nature of this meeting, but there are universal rules to consider. There were people you did not irritate no matter how much power you held over them, and one of the foremost groups in Adi’s opinion were those that made your meals. Adi tapped the page in return and nodded. “I see now. Thank you. But...educate me, please. Is the first, how do you say, Spiralizer? Is it necessary? They are, as I understand it, single blades with different functions, so the seven would encompass their functions as well, yes?”

Eyebrows knitted together and drifted apart with a shake of his head. Signs that he might have been caught in something began to appear, a twitch at the corner of his mouth, eyes downcast...no, after last night Adi was not so confident he could read a poker face. “Ayuh, I’ll check but that sounds right.”

“A moment then.” Adi returned to the text below the cross-out. An array of extra attachments blurred together between other appliances. Something called a turbo blender, sous vide this and wood fire that, pans and pots and dishes of dozens of specification. Stress pounded below his temples. He had not put himself together well enough to have explored every item, it seemed unimportant beside his typical workload. So here he was, a few sheets of paper and a humble chef forming the most intimidating experience he had been through since an unassuming black Acura pulled into his parking garage.

He sighed. Set the papers down, pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. The specifics could be damned. They were here to discuss the bottom line, he could not be faulted for that. “Mr. Libby,” he began cautiously, “I am not so experienced in all of this as you are, but even I can see there is certain...mmm, fat to be trimmed from these requests. Is this the most conservative list the kitchen staff can manage?”

Frank was smiling before he finished. “Now sir, I do understand that. I’ll confess I’m not so, like you say, experienced with what goes on outside myself. Seeing what all goes into keeping the ship right, hoo,” he punctuated with raised fists to his temples, fading out with splayed fingers in what Adi imagined was meant to mimic an explosion. “Beyond me, ayuh. We do watch though, down in the kitchen. Don’t know much about big money. Maybe we know our way around a gun or two, most of us, but nailing a sticker price on what you hand out to them kids? Not a clue, not a clue.” Frank went silent, his tongue bulging in his cheek with his eyes cast side-ways. “But you don’t need no expertise to see you folks strapped some gal with a thousand dollars for God knows what reason, and if you’re ready to throw away that kinda money, well, we figure might as well try to get some thrown at us.”

He laughed, and Adi found himself joining in. Low, restrained, but laughter all the same. Too surreal to avoid. “Your point is clear, Mr. Libby.” Their hands meet half-way across the desk. “I cannot say how sympathetic other ears will be but you have mine. I will put in a good word.”

Wednesday, June 13, 2018: Undisclosed Location, 9 AM

Tracen was pleased as he sat down. All the ingredients they looked for to push everyone into a paranoid fight for survival were starting to fall into place. They had a handful of kids who were killing consistently while new ones were joining their ranks at a good pace. The idea of announcing exactly what meal the winner of the best kill award would receive had been an inspired move to try and spur some more jealously and action. He was confident the paranoia would truly start setting in now. If you heard footsteps in the night would you be able to trust them? It could have been one of the killers with large body count or someone who intended to kill you as soon as you dropped your guard. They were already observing groups fall apart or suffer from in-fighting. The fractures were beginning to show on everyone and everything was moving along nicely.

"Welcome to hump day kids! How are we all doing on this fine damp morning? I'm happy to report that you're continuing to keep the pace up. If anything you all only needed a small push. It's remarkable how quickly it's all happened if I'm honest with you."

Tracen clapped his hands together.

"But anyway let's get a move on, I'm sure you're all itching to hear what happened yesterday after all."

"We begin with a classic danger zone kill as Clayton Barber took a tumble in the stables and got put down by his collar."

"After that Reuben Walters had a disagreement with Teresa Rojas that was resolved when he got a knife in the gut, which is a perfect example of the dangers of modern life. You never know who's carrying a weapon."

"That was followed up by a teamkill of a fashion as Quinn Abert showed Rhonda Lawson the dangers of her mistake."

Tracen grimaced. That one was a particularly poor effort.

"Camila Cañizares was the next to go when Michael Froese shot her. In our opinion, it was simple and effective work."

"The next kill is interesting, and I'll need to consult with our stats team, but I think this means we have a new record for poisoning kills. As you may have guessed, Blake Davis died after being poisoned by Erika Stieglitz."

Tracen made a show of turning a piece of paper so that the sound could be picked up on the speakers.

"If you thought things were good before it really picks up here."

"Firstly Quinn Abert made her fourth kill when she sniped Ned Jackson."

"This was followed by Dolores Upton getting her skull shot open by Blaise d'Aramitz, who didn't stop there. Not long after killing Dolores, Blaise came across Alexander Brooke and suffice to say he didn't see it coming."

"The chaos in the village continued when Cheridene Williams took a tumble down the well. Unfortunately, Lassie was not around to go and get her help."

"Things didn't slow down any when Layla DeBerg had her brains scattered over a wide radius by Violet Schmidt's bullet as she reappears on our announcements."

"Emil Van Zandt III was the next person to meet his end as Lorenzo Tavares bashed his head, not once, not twice, but thrice and some extra hits for good measure."

"In a very elaborate piece of work, Marco Volker pushed Arjen Kramer off the cliffs, causing him to drown."

"Quinn Abert makes yet another appearance on our morning broadcast today as this time it was Stepney Cruz and his organs who were the unlucky victims of her run of form."

"In a bit of an emotional drama, Tristan O'Hara was stabbed by Adonis Cohen. Great performance from all involved, very touching."

"And finally, Claudeson Bademosi and Bryan Merryweather had a philosophical discussion, and it seems that Claudeson talked Bryan to death. The bullet to the head probably helped too, though."

"We finish things up today with an important danger zone announcement. To prevent any accidents we're going to make The Cliffs off-limits for the day. It's very windy out there and we don't want anyone taking an unnecessary tumble."

"The only people who get to risk it are our Best Kill Award winners - that's right, winners plural. We just couldn't decide between Erika Stieglitz and Michael Froese's work yesterday. There will be a plate of pork and vegetable dumplings, fried rice, and a Coke for both of you in The Temple, but you'll have to decide between yourselves who gets the weapon."

"That's all for today, kids. Take care of yourselves and each other out there; you know what I mean. See you tomorrow."

The Fourth Announcement
Wednesday, June 13, 2018: Undisclosed Location, 11:40 PM

The usual faces, the usual suspects and the usual pleasantries surrounded Trent Camden’s desk. These were the quiet times, oddly enough, once the game had gotten underway. Days of endless cataloguing and procuring drugs from odd ends of the globe and then scrubbing traces of their destination or origin was a lot of pencil pushing, but a surprising amount of work and cause for stress. A bit of carelessness on an invoice or a shipment could mean having it all traced back to the AT or, more importantly, back to one Dr. Trent Camden.

So, it was nice to have that stress out of the way, and it only had to come at the price of receiving visits from people asking for god knows what or complaining about some ailment - Donald had been complaining about stomach pains from day one. Most of the complaints, Trent handled them with the same catch-all solution of sending them to Dr. Kelley, or somebody who gave a shit and had the correct job description to do something about it. Trent was really only sure about one of those, but that too was not his problem.

But now, so late at night it was practically the asscrack between night four and day five, the pharmaceutical desk was greeted with a familiar face and Trent shouldn’t have been surprised. “The headaches again, Dennis?”

Lourvey nodded both his greeting and response all rolled into one as he slumped up to the desk, sweeping his rimless glasses off his face and setting them on his desk. Trent watched in silence, disinterestedly flipping some papers and pulling a tan lockbox out from under the ledge of his desk, as the techie wrung his face in his hands.

“Migraines, and yeah. I’m hoping, like… you got something stronger than Advil?” Lourvey pulled his hands away from his face. The circles under his eyes told Trent everything he needed to know about the man’s condition.

“They’re coming earlier this time. I’ve been telling you to lay off the energy drinks, the caffeine and whatever else is in that shit- taurine? Guarine? It’s stringing you out. Do you even know what a headache is?” Trent turned in his chair, grabbing a bottle, checking the label, putting it back. He repeated the process a few times. Dennis didn’t seem to have an answer for that, so he continued. “The blood vessels in your brain are constricting because you’re dehydrating yourself for one reason or another. But they’ve got a really cool drug for that, you ready? It’s called: Water. Try drinking water for a change.”

“You’re being a dick right now. I mean, more than usual,” Lourvey tacked on, pressing an elbow into the desk and leaning over it. “So it sounds like maybe we’re both being stressed out by this shit. Can I just have the pills? If you had to run 18 hour shifts staring at screens and handling some of the dipshits they have me operating with, you’d amp yourself up too.”

Trent raised his hands to his shoulders but continued to scan the lines of bottles. Vicodin… it would do the trick, but it was like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer. Plus, there were too many dependency risks. He clicked his tongue and reached for his final decision. “I’m just worried about you ruining your liver. I know, my mistake for giving a damn. But here you go.” Trent turned around and set the bottle of Ibuprofen between them.

Dennis stared at it and looked back up to Trent with an eyebrow raised. “I said stronger than Advil.”

“It’s the same concentration they use in Midol,” Trent responded flatly. “At least give it a try, and if it doesn’t do the trick I can try to step up to something stronger.” Dennis shook his head but reached for the bottle, only for Trent to pull it back in the face of further confusion. “Cash,” the pharmacist insisted.

“What the hell?” Lourvey half-reached for the bottle again but when it was clear Trent wasn’t about to give it up, he quickly weighed his options of just snatching it versus catching a black eye and decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. “It normally just comes out of our pay or some shit, doesn’t it? Or like, don’t we budget for this? I never had to give…”

“There’s a problem with the system right now, so I won’t be able to track it.” Trent had a firm grip on the bottle and held out a hand expectantly. “Look, if there’s a problem, you can take it up with Tracen or something, but that’s just the way it is right now.”

Dennis glowered, but his shoulders slumped in defeat with little alternative available to him. If anything, this whole ordeal was just making his headache worse. And bringing it to Tracen… yeah, that wasn’t an option either. That guy had enough on his plate trying to run the main event. And he’d rather quit Red Bull cold turkey than bring it to Greynolds. “How much?” he finally said, quietly.

“Twenty five.”

“Fucking highway robbery…” Lourvey muttered, but forked over the twenties. Trent put one in the tan lockbox and slipped the other in a drawer, handing his co-worker back three fives. Lourvey turned to leave, but before he could go too far, Trent called back to him.

“Some free advice, since Kelley would just tell you the same thing: at least cut back on the drinks a little. Alternate between that and electrolytes. I’ve got some Pedialyte in the cooler, and that’d probably help too.” Dennis paused, seemed to actually listen, and gave a little bit of a wave before turning around the corner to return to his station.

Trent waved back, put the cash box away and checked the drawer.

Thursday, June 14, 2018: Undisclosed Location, 9 AM

He had been right with his prediction. They had more deaths on his list than they had the previous few days. It wouldn't last, he knew that much, but even so, if it looked like more and more of their classmates were giving in and willing to play the knock-on effect would be considerable. It was like dominoes really. Once one started to fall it didn't take long for the rest to fall with them and he got to give them another push. He got to give them a push each morning in fact. Every time he turned the speakers on he had the chance to push another one of the children to violence. He was well aware of that fact, and he played up to it. He grinned to himself as once again he pressed the button. It was time to give another person the push they needed.

"Another wonderful morning to you kids. Here's something to cheer you up if you feel a little a down. Just remember that you have managed to survive yet another day while others have failed. You have made it one step closer to victory and the chance to go home; in fact, if you're hearing me now, you've lasted more than one-third of the way through. The thought of that should perk you up, but anyway we should kick things off."

Tracen loudly cracked his fingers as he started to read the names.

"We begin with Ashlynn Martinek who said the wrong thing to Julien Leblanc, who retaliated by shutting her up for good. You'd have thought people would have learned to be careful with their words by now.

"Keeping the deaths via blade going Mackenzie Baker had her throat cut by Justin Greene who, after a day off, makes his return to these announcements. It's good to have you back, Justin.

"Speaking of returns, how about someone who never left? That's right, it's Quinn Abert! This time she mixed things up and bludgeoned Liberty Wren to death.

"Next, we had some sibling-on-sibling violence as Ramsey Cortez was strangled by Angie Cortez. You hate to see it."

Tracen gave a small shake of the head, more for his own benefit than anything else.

"In a simpler, but no less dramatic, death, William Dover met his end when Nia Karahalios wasn't in the mood to talk and let her gun take over negotiations.

Tracen read the next set of names and whistled.

"Man, you guys were trigger happy today. After a scuffle, Joanne Coleman was shot by Blaise d'Aramitz. We respect the effort, but you need to make sure the barrel is pointing away from you.

"Then, keeping the trend going, Erika Stieglitz notched up a double kill when she sniped both Katie Agustien and Saffron Fields. They died holding hands though, which was cute.

"After that, there was another death where body met bullets, as Brandon Murphy was shot by Zachary Beck, whom you may remember from a couple of days back.

"Just to shake things up, Jessica Rennes was next to go, opting out of the game by jumping off the cliffs - and after we closed them for safety reasons too.

"Luckily Erika Stieglitz gets us back on track for gun violence and continued her rampage down at the beach, where she shot Oliver Lacroix. Sadly too much time had passed for it to count as a triple. She then capped things off by putting a bullet in Tom Swift's head. Quite the busy day for Ms. Stieglitz.

"Not to be outdone, or alternatively, wanting to join in, Quinn Abert notched up a second kill. This time it was Richard Smith via gun. It's nice to see some of you really branching out and finding yourselves."

Tracen let out a dramatic sigh as he got to the end of the list.

"And after all that we end today with a couple more eclectic methods. First Ariana Moretti, who died from wounds inflicted on her by Marco Volker, which sounds boring until you realize he used a chainsaw. Then to finish us off, Lucas Brady rammed a branch into Coriander Silverman. Points for improvisation, if not for style.

"That was certainly something huh? You were all very busy yesterday. Some of you more than others granted, but still, I'm impressed. Anyway, we still have the usual admin to get through so since closing the cliffs clearly didn't work we'd like to announce that if you planned on paying a visit to the Bay Area you might want to cancel that as it's becoming off-limits. If you're there...better get your asses in gear and get out.

Finally, we finish off as always by announcing with one of you impressed us enough with your murder skills to be rewarded with a prize, and today that is Nia Karahalios! Congratulations, your prize of a chicken salad sandwich, a side of fresh fruit, and a sparkling water can be found on the pier, along with a new weapon of course.

That's all from me this morning kids, remember, you're one day closer to going home. Don't let anyone take that chance from you."

The Fifth Announcement
Friday, June 15, 2018: INTERPOL Liaison Office, Bangkok, Thailand

From: INTERPOL General Secretariat To: Rhea Pillman Subject: FW: To Whom It May Concern

Dear INTERPOL,

I am writing to you with information regarding several of the red notices you have recently made publically available on your website along with others I am sure you are currently gathering evidence for and an INTERPOL-United Nations Security Council Special Notice that I also believe you to be working on.

The red notices I am specifically referring to are regarding the terrorist organization known as the Arthro Taskforce who are responsible for seven iterations of terrorist actions known as "Survival of the Fittest", with an eighth being planned. I am not sure how far into your investigation you are or how much evidence you have gathered currently but I assume you are either unaware that the seventh version is currently active or unable to prevent it from happening. I feel safe in this assumption as the seventh iteration has now been occurring for six days now without any attempted outside disruptions.

I am aware that you have probably received many communications such as this one from people claiming to have knowledge of the Arthro Taskforce and how it operates. In an effort to convince you that I am in fact the real deal so to speak allow me to divulge some information about the kidnapping of the senior class of George Hunter High. In total one-hundred and fifty-nine students were taken on their way back from a trip to Washington D.C. after the original bus they had been traveling on broke down and they were transferred to a replacement one, this happened at 2am. After the students were gassed they were taken to Roanoke, Virginia to be transferred.

Both of these buses were being driven by members of our organization and the operation was planned and carried out by Steven Wilson on the orders of Jim Greynolds and Tracen Danya. The driver of the bus was a woman who had been present since the start of the trip. She is also a member of the Arthro Taskforce by the name of Josie Knight—based on the notices posted on your website you do not appear to have anything on her—the person who delivered the second bus was Shamino Warhen.

I know that there is a chance you may still doubt the information I am providing you but I would like to state that currently, sixty-eight of the one-hundred and fifty-nine students who started the game have already perished. Time is of the essence if you want to save them.

If you want more details, please do not hesitate to contact me. I only ask for immunity from any potential charges that could be brought against me.

Warmest regards, Art

Friday, June 15, 2018: Undisclosed Location, 9 AM

Another day had passed and Tracen found himself thinking about how well everything was going. The organization had become a well-oiled machine in the time he had been involved. Between him and Greynolds they had removed many problematic elements and issues from the design of the game. The end result was easy to see before him: an island full of teens fighting to the death with their government unable to prevent it or help them until it was far too late. They had everyone's attention, even now, as he sat and took a sip from his coffee he was sure those left back in America felt that feeling of powerlessness and hopelessness. He grinned as he had the thought, the class they had taken also appeared eager to show their dark side. Whoever had monitored them and put them forward to participate needed a raise.

He gave his notes one last skim read and when he was satisfied he turned the speakers on.

"Alright, we start today with two people who decided to try and test out our danger zones to make sure they still work. Good news! They do! Bad news! Nikki Nelson-Kelly and Gervais Frans Lambotte are dead. Although if your aim is to win and go home that's not really bad news at all.

"In our first real kill of the day, Madison Springer took the bullet for all of you and caved in Nathan Coleman's skull. Which I'm sure you're all secretly grateful for, so thank her next time you see her.

"Not long after that Meilin Zhou became the latest victim of Quinn Abert who's on what? Eight or nine now? I'm losing count.

"Then Claudeson Bademosi made sure Bret Carter got his point when he shot him in the neck with a crossbow. Which do you think he counts as, Claude? Cain or Abel?

"Dane Lennox was the next of you to become a victim when Lorenzo Tavares blew his mind with a headshot.

"This was quickly followed by Diego Larrosa going digging for treasure in the neck of Mike Brown. We're not sure if he found anything special besides this kill.

"Drew Woods was the next to go when Declyn Grayson-Anthis shot him. Simple, effective and some good enough first steps on the path to victory.

"Next up, Tennessee chainsaw massacre continued with Marco Volker decapitating Colin McCabe. Have fun dealing with that one.

"A while later, Erika Stieglitz went on another killing spree, this time taking out Yuki Hayashibara, Sal Bonaventura, and Demetri Futscher in quick succession. Oh, and she snatched the title of the killer with the biggest bodycount to their name with that little display, too. Fine work."

He lightened his tone just a bit so that listeners might guess that he was smiling.

"After his promising show yesterday, Lucas Brady sadly decided to throw in the towel and bashed his head against a rock. At least it was a suicide and not yet another one of you tripping over their own two feet. Fortunately, we closed things off with someone else showing a little more dedication, as Nia Karahalios blew Aoi Mishima away after a fairly one-sided conversation."

Tracen slid the list to one side of his desk and looked at the map of the island they had prepared earlier. Locations crossed out and circled with sharpie.

"So as you all stew over what to do about the maniacs running around with chainsaws and such, let me tell you where you won't be able to hide. If you are in The Lower Wilds we suggest making your way elsewhere, for health and safety purposes."

He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

"Between you and me, the goats are getting territorial.

"And we'll end off today with a feel-good announcement as Madison Springer has won the prize for being the best of killing for today! Congratulations! Your prize of a new weapon and a plate of beef and cheese enchiladas with Spanish rice and refried beans can be found in the Lower Wilderness!

"That's all from me today kids, have fun out there and remember, only one of you can go home."